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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28463319">Can't We Be A Family?</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadows_of_Fire_and_Blood/pseuds/Shadows_of_Fire_and_Blood'>Shadows_of_Fire_and_Blood</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Hazbin Hotel (Web Series), Helluva Boss (Web Series)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Crossover, Drama, Dysfunctional Family, F/M, Family, Family Issues, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Songfic</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-11 00:08:51</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,385</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28463319</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadows_of_Fire_and_Blood/pseuds/Shadows_of_Fire_and_Blood</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Charlie and Octavia may be incredibly differant, yet...the same as well.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Lilith Magne/Lucifer Magne, Stella Goetia/Stolas Goetia</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>28</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Can't We Be A Family?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Charlie = normal, italics</p><p>Octavia - Bold</p><p>(Both) - Bold + Italic</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Slamming her door loudly, not that any one would notice, Octavia sat on her bed, plugged into her headphones, music playing close to full blast - her parents were arguing again. They hadn’t even noticed that she had left to get away from the yelling two hours ago. And apparently they hadn’t stopped since.</p><p>Meanwhile, on the other side of the city, Charlie wasn’t having the best of days either. She’d spoken to her mother which had been nice, but when she had asked to speak to her father...her mother had grown awkward, saying that he was busy and to give it some more Despite the distance, the pair sang in unison</p><p>time.</p><p>Charlie was grateful to her mother, who had remained as much a neutral party to her husband and daughters strained relationship. Yet Charlie felt guilty as well - not wanting her mother to feel as though she had to choose between the two people she loved the most in all of Hell.</p><p>Paintings and Portraits hung all around the hotel lobby of Charlie and her family, which she loved of course, she had chosen them after all, yet as she walked the length of the entrance to the hotel she couldn’t help but feel saddened, because things were so different now.</p><p>Meanwhile, Octavia growled in annoyance as the battery for her phone died out, after irritatedly plugging in the charger, she got to her feet. Hearing her mother screaming at her dad.</p><p>Yeah he had fucked up, it was his fault for ruining everything after sleeping around - with a dickhead of an imp. But…her mother screamed such vile things to him.</p><p>Octavia picked up a photo from her dresser, grey bangs falling over her right eye as she gazed at the image; it was of her, at about two years old, riding on her fathers shoulders, both of them laughing and smiling. Octavia wondered if that had been the last time she’d truly felt so happy...she couldn’t remember.</p><p>She’d always been closer to her father, since her mother had maintained a somewhat distant relationship with her daughter since she was born</p><p><b>“</b> <b> <em>I hear glasses breakin’” </em> </b> <em> she sang miserably  </em></p><p><em> “ </em> <b> <em> as I sit up in my bed, I told dad you didn't mean those nasty things you Said. </em> </b></p><p>
  <b> <em>And this I come home to…”</em> </b>
</p><p>Charlie put a hand to the reception desk of her hotel, having similar despairing thought</p><p><b> <em> “</em> </b> <em> This is my shelter” </em></p><p>
  <b>(<em>Both)</em></b>
</p><p>
  <em> <b>“It ain't easy growin up in World War III”</b> </em>
</p><p>Octavia wiped her eyes furiously, taking off her beanie and tossing it furiously</p><p>
  <b>“Never knowing what love could be, you'll see</b>
</p><p>
  <b>I don't want love to destroy me like it has done My family!”</b>
</p><p>Charlie walked around the lobby  desk, looking at the portrait on the wall beside her, it depicted her, around 12 years old, standing between her proud looking mother and father</p><p>
  <em> “Can we work it out? Can we be a family? </em>
</p><p>
  <em> I promise I'll be better, I'll do anything”  </em>
</p><p>Charlie hung her head, hand pressed to the portrait</p><p>
  <em> “Can we work it out? Can we be a family?” </em>
</p><p>Octavia replaced the photo-frame in her hand, in her reflection in the mirror she saw the tears that had previously gone unnoticed by the owl demon</p><p>
  <em> “I promise I'll be better, Daddy please don't…Leave” </em>
</p><p>Her voice cracked, it was her worst fear - the breaking up of her family, her father, her daddy going away somewhere and never coming back...</p><p>
  <b>“momma ,she loves you, no matter what she says, It's true! </b>
</p><p>
  <b>I know that he hurt you, but remember I love You, too…”</b>
</p><p>Her father had promised, at Loo Loo Land, to never leave...but</p><p>
  <b>“I ran away today, ran from the noise, Ran away.</b>
</p><p>
  <b> Don't wanna go back to that place....”</b>
</p><p>Octavia wandered over to her couch</p><p>
  <b> <em>(Both) </em> </b>
</p><p>
  <b> <em>‘Don't have No choice, no way</em> </b>
</p><p>
  <b> <em>It ain't easy growin up in World War III”</em> </b>
</p><p>
  <b> <em>Charlie moved away from the group photo of her with her parents</em> </b>
</p><p>
  <em> “ Well I've seen and…” </em>
</p><p>Octavia flopped down on the couch </p><p>
  <em> “I don't want love to destroy me like it did my Family </em>
</p><p><b>(both) </b> <b> <em>Can we work it out? Can we be a family?</em> </b></p><p>Octavia lent her head back, teary eyes fixed on the ceiling</p><p>
  <b>“Promise...I'll be better, Daddy please don't Leave….”</b>
</p><p>Her feathered hands balled into <em>fists</em> through black fingerless gloves.</p><p>Charlie glanced up at a poster of her mother, with the back-up group of the band RESIST whom Lilith was the leader singer/vocalist in the background</p><p> CHarlie letting her fingers trail along the wall as she continued</p><p>
  <em> <b>(Both)  In our family portrait, we look pretty happy,  </b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b>Let's play pretend, let's act like it comes Naturally</b> </em>
</p><p>
  <em> <b>act and like it comes so…”</b> </em>
</p><p>Octavia hung her head in her hands</p><p>spreading her arms out wide as she continued</p><p><b>“I promise I'll be better....”</b> she tried desperately to hold back her tear<b><em>s</em></b></p><p><b>“Daddy please don't Leave)</b> <b></b></p><p>
  <b> Trying to hold back her tears Octavia dug her nails into her scalp and Charlie toyed anxiously with a stray section of blond hair. </b>
</p><p>
  <em> <b>"In our family portraits We look pretty normal, let's go back to that…”</b> </em>
</p><p>Octavia slid to the floor in sorrow</p><p><b>“Daddy don't leave, Daddy don't leave…”</b> <b>  </b></p><p>The she demon buried her head into her knees.</p><p>Charlie recalled the last time she had seen her father, how distant and cold the normal ubeat overlord usually was, how he’d quite literally cut off her last words, turned and walked away from her, swinging his cane at his side.</p><p>
  <b> <em> “Turn around please?”</em> </b>
</p><p>If only her father could see the potential in her rehabilitation plan, not tearing her idea down with every reason it could go wrong….</p><p>Octavia, still sat on the floor in front of hre couch, lowered her hands from her abused scalp</p><p>Maybe if she tried harder, to be cheerier, to be the perfect daughter they wanted instead of the sullen, nearly joyless adolescent she had become...</p><p><b>“</b> <b> <em>Daddy don't leave , Don't leave us here alone</em> </b></p><p>
  <b> <em>I will be nicer, I'll be so much better, Oh, I won't spill the milk at dinner”</em> </b>
</p><p>Meanwhile,the blond princess had taken out her phone, finger hovering over the call button for her fathers cell phone.</p><p>The icon was a small photo, once again of Charlie  she in the middle, her father, grinning toothily to her right, her mother on her left and holding her phone to take the family selfie</p><p><b> <em>'ll be so much better, I'll do everything right” </em> </b>she promised.</p><p>Still debating whether to call her father or not. He had yet to take any of her other calls after all...</p><p>Maybe, just maybe, she could prove that it could work, if she did maybe her father would….accept her back?</p><p>Octavia dried her eyes roughly, it was always the same, she would hold onto her emotions until they welled up inside hre threatening to drown her</p><p> </p><p><strong>“I'll be your little girl forever</strong> <b></b></p><p>
  <b> <em>In our family portrait, we look pretty happy…”</em> </b>
</p><p>Octavia forced herself to stand with a heavy sigh. </p><p>She cast a final look at the photo on her dresser, as a child she’d had many portraits of her with her parents  hanging in her bedroom, but the older she got, the more she felt the need to distance herself from her screaming, squabbling parents, the less she wanted to be reminded of those happy times, because they would never go back to the way they were before.</p><p>Charlie locked her phone screen and put it in her pocket tearfully while Octavia face-planted onto her bed, feet dangling over the food of the mattress</p><p>
  <b> <em>(Both) “let's go back to that…</em> </b>
</p><p> </p><p>It was then that Octavia realized that the screaming had finally stopped, at least for now so she decided to make the most of it.</p><p> </p><p>As she made her way up the staircase with Razzle and Dazzle at her heels, Charlies phone rang cheerily, mocking her uncharacteristically sullen mood, but as she took out her phone and read the name of the person calling, expecting it to be Vaggie</p><p> </p><p>The icon of the selfie she had been looking at earlier, of her with her parents showed up on the screen</p><p>
  <em>'Daddy</em>
</p><p>calling;'   The screen read</p><p> </p><p>Her heart didn't leap, it stopped dead in her chest for a moment, a second later she pressed 'recieve'.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Stand alone instead of  part of my Magne family one-shot series as it revolves around Octavia, whom i now adore, just as much as Charlie.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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